Saturday, September 05, 2009

A Close Encounter with Park Residents

After the torrential deluge of yesterday evening, this morning was extra crisp and sunny. Just the perfect day to visit a park. and that's where we headed, with Mary and her daughter, Jasmine, in tow.

And it was a good day for photographic pursuit too when many other park visitors (or rather residents?) parking themselves along the river bank of the Hillsborough River at Riverhills Park, just next to the boardwalk that skirts along the river edge for a short stretch. With Jasmine in between being seated in the stroller or in the folds of Mary or Wify, we promenaded on the boardwalk. Armed with my Coolpix L100, I trained my camera on the park residents in turn. The result is a mix of candid camera on the park residents and the rustic environment that surrounds them. Truly a day at the park that is worth a thousand words.

A kind passer-by volunteered to take a picture of us, and the baby girl was seen clamoring to partake of the kind gesture too by raising her little hands.

And her wish was answered, warmly enconced in the soft hold of Wify.

The sky and the land merging into one in the water as framed by the two trees.

Perfect symmetry, almost anyway.

Rolling, and rolling across the water surface, the water reflection doing its trick on the eye.

Taking flight, wings spread and the legs just about to be stowed in under the belly.

Feeling my presence, turning to check out, and staring me in the face, the squirrel way.

The Gators in Bulls country (The Bull is the mascot of USF located in Tampa), making waves or just floating motionless, the bulging eyes scanning and scanning.

Dragonfly is not easy to shoot because of its tendency to scurry away at the slightest disturbance. Thanks to the 15X zoom, I was able to stay sufficiently distant to be invisible.

It's might as well be gecko country too, darting across all surfaces.

Synchronized activity, the way of the birds and the ducks.

Then something is just best done alone: jumping, guarding, and feasting across the top while the duck is trying to shoo away the squirrel to maintain its solitary status.

Oooooo!!! Dad!!!! There are some really neat pictures here!!! I especially like the fifth photo, the one of the 'rolling, and rolling across the water surface'--it really does look like the grass is rolling on the water. Nice! The one with the bird flying and tucking its legs underneath is neat too--you must have caught it JUST as it took off.

All the squirrel photos are neat, too! And the one you got of the third gator picture, the one in the green-y swamp/marsh--that one actually looks scary, because it really looks like it's stalking prey! I also like the gecko photos, in particular the third one, the gecko on the wood railing; I also like the curled tail of the top left one.

I also like the stork just coming out of the water, its wings spread to give it leverage, and the duck (it looks a bit like a chicken) going after the squirrel--that one gave me a good laugh. Hahaha!! (just like that)